In some implementations of cellular networks as specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) also WLAN accesses may be used for carrying data traffic of a user equipment (UE). For example, 3GPP TR 37.834 V12.0.0 (2013-12) proposes solutions in which a node of the cellular radio access network, such as a base station of the LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio technology referred to as eNB, controls utilization of an WLAN access point (AP) by the UE. For this purpose, the node needs to be aware of WLAN APs which are “visible” to the UE, i.e., which can be discovered by the UE.
The UE can to discover the WLAN APs by listening to beacon frames transmitted by the WLAN APs, or by sending a probe request frame and receiving a probe response frame. However, controlling utilization of such WLAN APs may require additional information on the WLAN AP, such as information about 3GPP or non-3GPP networks connected to the WLAN AP.
One possibility to obtain such additional information is to make use of the Access Network Query Protocol (ANQP) as specified in IEEE 802.11-2012, which allows the UE to query parameters of the WLAN AP.
However, using the ANQP requires data exchange between the UE and the WLAN AP and subsequent reporting of the discovered parameters to the cellular network, which is not desirable in view of battery consumption of the UE, specifically when considering that such parameters may be subject to dynamic variations, so that frequent reporting may be needed.
Accordingly, there is a need for techniques which allow for efficiently obtaining information on a WLAN AP discovered by a UE.